GLA Entrance Assessment Outcomes & Next Steps

Frequently Asked Questions Frequently Asked Questions

1. Who set and marked the Entrance Assessment? The Entrance Assessment was set and marked by GL Assessment (GLA).

2. Who is GL Assessment? Originally founded by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), with whom they continue to work today, GL Assessment has been part of the Granada Learning Group since 2000. Renowned for their rigour and high quality, GL Assessment tests are used every year by over 85% of all UK and N.Ireland primary and post primary schools. You may be familiar with your child taking the Progress in English or Progress in Mathematics assessments in primary school which are GL Assessment products. GL Assessment is the largest independent provider of educational assessments in the UK and N.Ireland. With over thirty years of experience in this field, GL Assessment enjoys an established, trusted reputation for high-quality assessment resources and services.

3. What results or outcomes have I received for my child?  Standardised Age Score (SAS) You have been given the Standardised Age Score for the English and Mathematics assessments. The Standardised Age Score takes account of your child’s age when he/she took the assessment, the number of correct answers and the degree of difficulty of the assessment. The SAS gives an indication of how your child has performed in the Entrance Assessment compared to other children within the same age group in the UK. The Standardised Age Score for English and for Mathematics is given as a number between 69 and 141. As well as the SAS for English and Mathematics, you have received the Combined Total SAS for both assessments, given as a number between 138 and 282. You may be familiar with the scores from standardised tests used in your child’s primary school, e.g. Progress in English and / or Progress in Maths, which also use this scale.  Overall Grade An Overall Grade has been provided: A, B1, B2, C1, C2 or D. This grade has been assigned to your child on the basis of his / her Combined Total Standard Age Score and is in line with past outcomes for GLA Entrance Assessments.

 Cohort Percentile This is a number in a range from <30 to 99+. It indicates how well your child has scored compared to all the other children who sat the assessment. The higher the combined total SAS, the higher the cohort percentile will be.

Please make sure that you attach one copy of the GLA Assessment Outcomes to your Transfer Form and keep a copy for your records. In addition, you should accurately record all the outcomes in the space provided in the Transfer Form.

4. Why have I received three different types of outcome?

Every post-primary school has published its own individual admissions criteria and these differ from school to school. Some use the Combined Total Standardised Age Score, some use Overall Grade and some use Cohort Percentile.

5. How was the grade assigned to my child? The Combined Total Standardised Age Scores were used to assign grades using the following grade boundaries: Grades A B1 B2 C1 C2 D Boundary* 234 229 224 219 213 138 *The boundary is the minimum Combined Total SAS that a child must achieve to be allocated each grade.

6. Did the age of my child affect his/her results? An age allowance operates within the scoring of the assessment and it is one of the reasons why GL Assessment will report the results as Standardised Age Scores. In calculating the Standardised Age Score, the age of your child in years and months when he/she took the test was taken into account but no child loses marks because of his/her age.

7. Does where my child took his/her Entrance Assessment affect the school I want him/her to attend? No. The assessment and admission processes are entirely separate. If your child took the Entrance Assessment in any of the Assessment Centres listed at the end of this document, you may apply for a place in any of these schools irrespective of where your child has taken the Entrance Assessment. All of these schools have agreed to accept results of children who take the GLA Entrance Assessment regardless of the centre where they have taken the assessment.

8. Can I have my child’s assessments re-marked? Yes. If you decide to request a Re-mark, please contact the Assessment Centre to obtain Form RM1. Please complete this form and return it to the centre where your child took the assessment. You can apply for a Re-mark of your child’s Entrance Assessment up to 2-00 pm on Friday 10th February 2017. The Assessment Centre will send your request to GL Assessment and will aim to have the results of the re-mark posted no later than Monday 27th February 2017. There is no cost involved. Please note that the outcomes of a re-mark are final whether the Combined Total SAS score and / or overall grade and / or cohort percentile are increased, decreased or remain the same.

9. Can I have access to my child’s Entrance Assessment papers? No. The assessment papers belong to GL Assessment and GLA, which owns the copyright on all the assessment materials it produces, does not make the Entrance Assessment material available. Schedule 7 paragraph 9 of the Data Protection Act 1998 provides GL Assessment with an exemption in respect of access to examination scripts.

10. What do I do now to apply for a place in the post-primary school of my choice? Please refer to the Education Authority document “Admission to Post-Primary Education Transfer 2017 – A Guide for Parents”. You will need to complete the Transfer Form, possibly at or following a meeting with the Principal / P7 Teacher of your child’s primary school. This form asks you to list in order of preference, the post-primary schools (at least four) which you would like your child to attend. You must attach a copy of your child’s GLA Entrance Assessment Outcomes to the Transfer Form. This is so that the post-primary schools will know the outcomes your child achieved. Section 9 of the Education Authority Guide for Parents covers completion of the Transfer Form. Your primary school th has to return completed Transfer Forms by Friday 10 February 2017.

11. What overall Grade, Combined Total SAS score or Cohort Percentile will my child need to be admitted in the school of my choice? Every post-primary school has published its own admissions criteria and these are available from the school or from the Education Authority website – www.eani.org.uk. Within its admissions criteria, each school states the number of children who applied and the number who were admitted over each of the past three years. The minimum grades or Combined Total SAS or Cohort Percentile required for admission to a particular school can vary from year to year. If you have any queries, you should contact any of the schools you have listed on your child’s Transfer Form.

12. Which schools are using the GLA Entrance Assessment results? All the 34 schools listed in the Table on the next page are using the results from the GLA Entrance Assessment.

The final column indicates if the school is using Grade ( ), *SAS ( ), a combination of Grade and *SAS ( ) or     Cohort Percentile. Please note that this column provides an indication only. (*SAS = Combined Total SAS)

You are advised to make sure that you are familiar with the Admissions Criteria being used by each school you are interested in listing on the Transfer Form.

School Address Web-site Grade *SAS

Antrim Grammar School 10 Steeple Road, Antrim, BT41 1AF www.antrimgrammar.org.uk Cohort

Percentile Aquinas Grammar School Ravenhill Road, Belfast, BT6 0BY www.aquinasgrammar.com  Assumption Grammar School 24 Belfast Road, Ballynahinch, BT24 8EA www.assumptiongrammar.org.uk  Campbell College Belmont Road, Belfast, BT4 2ND www.campbellcollege.co.uk Cohort Percentile Christian Brothers’ Grammar School Kevlin Road, Omagh, BT78 1LD www.omaghcbs.org   Christian Brothers' Abbey Grammar 77A Ashgrove Road, Newry BT34 1QN www.abbeycbs.org School  Dominican College Belfast 38 Fortwilliam Park, Belfast BT15 4AQ www.dominicancollege.org.uk  Dominican College Portstewart 2 Strand Road, Portstewart BT55 7PF www.dominican-portstewart.org.uk 

Hunterhouse College Upper Lisburn Road, Finaghy, BT10 0LE www.hunterhousecollege.org.uk Cohort Percentile Lagan College 44 Manse Road, Belfast, BT8 6SA www.lagancollege.com Cohort

Percentile Loreto Grammar School Omagh James Street, Omagh, BT78 1DL www.loretogs.com  Lumen Christi College Bishop Street, Derry, BT48 6UJ www.lumenchristicollege.co.uk  Mount Lourdes Grammar School Belmore Street, Enniskillen BT74 6AB www.mountlourdes.com  Our Lady and St Patrick's College, Knock 120 Gilnahirk Road, Belfast, BT5 7DL www.knock.co.uk   Our Lady's Grammar School Chequer Hill, Newry, BT35 6DY www.ourladysgrammar.co.uk  Rainey Endowed 79 Rainey Street, Magherafelt, BT45 5DB www.raineyendowed.com  Rathmore Grammar School Kingsway, Finaghy, Belfast, BT10 0LF www.rathmoregrammarschool.org  Sacred Heart Grammar School 10 Ashgrove Avenue, Newry, BT34 1PR www.shsnewry.com  Slemish College 147a Larne Road, Ballymena, BT42 3HA www.slemishcollege.org.uk Cohort

Percentile St Colman's College Violet Hill, 46 Armagh Road, Newry, BT35 6PP www.stcolmans.org.uk  St Columb's College Buncrana Road, Derry, BT48 8NH www.stcolumbs.com  St. Dominic's High School 135-137 Falls Road, Belfast, BT12 6AE www.stdominics.org.uk   St Joseph's Grammar School 58 Castlecaulfield Rd, Donaghmore, BT70 3HE www.stjosephs.donaghmore.ni.sch.uk  St Louis Grammar School Ballymena Cullybackey Road, Ballymena, BT43 5DW www.stlouisgrammar.com  St Louis Grammar School Kilkeel 151 Newry Road, Kilkeel, BT34 4EU www.stlouis.org.uk  St Malachy's College 36 Antrim Road, Belfast, BT15 2AE www.stmalachyscollege.com  St Mary's Christian Brothers' Grammar 147a Glen Road, Belfast, BT11 8NR www.stmaryscbgs.com School  St Mary’s Grammar School Magherafelt 3 Castledawson Road, Magherafelt, BT45 6AX www.stmarysmagherafelt.com  St Michael's College Enniskillen Chanterhill Road, Enniskillen, BT74 6DE www.saintmichaels.org.uk   St Patrick's Academy Dungannon Killymeal Road, Dungannon, BT71 6DF www.stpatricksacademy.org.uk  St Patrick's Grammar School, 35 Saul Street, Downpatrick, BT30 6NJ www.spgs.org.uk Cohort

Downpatrick Percentile Thornhill College Culmore Road, Derry, BT48 8JF www.thornhillcollege.org.uk  Victoria College, Belfast 2a Cranmore Park, Belfast, BT9 6JA www.victoriacollege.org.uk Cohort Percentil e Wellington College, Belfast 18 Carolan Road, Belfast, BT7 3HE www.wellingtoncollegebelfast.org Cohort Percentile